Mantles and Surlyn covers?

[Shadrach]

If I understand it correctly, the beauty of the mantled and urethane covered ball is that it does not spin too much when struck by the "flat" face of the long clubs but spins well to grab the green when struck by the "oblique" face of the short clubs.

 

This makes me wonder about the relative merits of a mantled and surlyn covered ball compared to a 2-piece non-mantled surlyn covered ball. Srixon formerly, and Callaway still, offered both balls in their line, priced approximately at $20/ dozen for the 2-piece surlyn covered ball and about a dollar more per ball for the mantled and surlyn covered ball.

 

I wonder whether the mantled and surlyn covered ball has performance benefits to justify its $1 delta, or is it simply the worst of both possible worlds?

[NJpatbee]

There have been a few surlyn mantled balls that have performed well including the NXT series (about $3/ball and way overpriced) and the Gamer V2 (about $1.50) per, which many agree was a great ball and better than the NXT (I switched and could not believe the difference). From what I can tell, the 2014 Gamer has the exact same specs as the V2 and cost $30 for 2 dozen - this may be the buy of the year if it indeed the old V2 re-packaged.

By the way you can get the urethene covered mantled Maxfli U/3 for $24.95/dozen, or the Gamer Tour for $35 for 2 dozen! Now to be honest, I am not certain how much difference a 2 or 3 piece mantled ball directly impact my game as a bogey golfer, but I will take any advantage I can get. A urethene cover helped me around the green last year, but the V2 had similar performance.

Bottom line, for about $30 you can get the TM Project (a) urethene and some top quality lower priced balls for under $20. I wouldn't bother with $30+ 3 piece surlyn balls with the market offering such a wide selection.